5.2. NMS Suites

We use the term
"suite" to mean a software package that bundles multiple
applications into one convenient product. In this section, we discuss
NMS software, which is one of the more important pieces of the
network-management picture. Without it, the agent software in the
previous section is virtually useless. NMS products allow you to have
a total network view of your servers, routers, switches, etc. In most
cases, this view is a graphical representation of your network, with
lots of neat labels and icons. These packages are very configurable
and work in almost any network environment. With this freedom,
however, often comes a big price tag and a confusing setup process.
Some of the products focus more on the network side of management
(i.e., devices such as routers, hubs, and switches). Others go a step
beyond this and allow you to customize server and workstation agents
to integrate nicely into your NMSs. Keep in mind that the bigger
packages are for larger, more complicated networks and require
extensive training. Be sure to take some time to research the
packages before purchasing; if at all possible, get trial versions.
The rest of this section lists some of the more common NMS packages.

Platforms

Solaris, HP-UX, Windows NT/2000

Pros

Great mid- to large-business SNMP suite. While it can be complicated,
it is manageable with a little help from OpenView support. Has a nice
graphical map and event-monitoring system. Can do some historical
trend analysis. Price seems right and can be trimmed by obtaining a
license for a limited number of managed nodes.

Cons

Platforms

Solaris, HP-UX, Windows NT/2000

Pros

If you're a Fortune 500 company looking to implement OpenView
on steroids, ITO is your product. It is very user-centered. Maps,
events, and more can be displayed or hidden based on a user's
profile. The event system is more like a ticket center. A wealth of
third-party "smart plug-ins" are available.

Cons

Price can be very high. Made for serious enterprise companies. Not
many people can properly implement this without training or outside
consulting help.

Cons

Platforms

Solaris, HP-UX, Windows NT

Pros

Uses behavior models (finite state machines) to model real-world
network situations. NerveCenter is designed to be a standalone
polling engine, or to be used in conjunction with OpenView's
graphical map. Perl subroutines can be compiled into the polling
engine for later use.

Cons

Takes more effort to maintain than OpenView, and tends to be more
complicated to operate.

Platforms

Solaris

Pros

RiverSoft, the company behind OpenRiver, boasts that their NMS
provides "interventionless network management." They also
provide true layer 2 and 3 network discovery. Despite the
product's impressive abilities, it is priced very reasonably.

Cons

Currently available only for Solaris (although RiverSoft is planning
a Windows NT release).

Cons

Platforms

Most Unix platforms, Windows NT

Pros

Tkined is a free
extensible network management platform. It provides a network map and
tools to perform discovery of IP networks. It can also perform
management of devices with SNMP and non-SNMP standards
(ping, traceroute, etc.). Tcl
is used to extend and add functionality to Tkined.

Cons

Platforms

Any platform that supports Java

Pros

OpenNMS is an attempt to provide users
with a truly open service and network-management product. It is
written in Java and is released under the GNU Public License (GPL).
It supports network discovery and distributed polling, among other
things.